Safety device for laundry machines



S. M. COZAD SAFETY DEVICE FOR LAUNDRY MACHINES Il IHHII Il Sept. l, 1925.

S. M. COZAD SAFETY DEVICE FOR LAUNDRY MACHINES slept. 1, 192s.

l s. M. cozAD y SAFETY DEVICE FOR LAUNDRY MACHINES Filed April ie, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Sept. 1, 1925.

SAMUEL M. oozAn, or Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR LAUNDRY MACHLINES.

Application mea Aprilv 18, 1922. serial No. 555,346.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL M. COZAD, a. citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Safety Devices for Laundry Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to power driven laundry washing machines, and morevparticularly the invention pertains to a safety appliance therefor.

It has been found that inexperienced and careless operatives will attempt to start the machineA before the cylinder' lids have been closed down and also before the hand set ting mechanism, by which the cylinder is brought to a position to register the doo-rs with the shell covers, has been disconnected as from the main gear on the cylinder shaft.`

1t is an object of the present invention to provide a safety appliance rendering it impossible to start the operation of the machine until the cylinders have been closed. It is further an object to utilize the same safety mechanism to prevent starting of the machine when the hand setting mechanism' is in effective position. A further object is to provide a safety appliance that can be readily applied to installed machines with but little. expense and without substantial change of construction of the same, and which appliance can be readily combined with machines in the course of` manufacture and completed machines.

One embodiment of the invention is herein described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of one form of washing machine, parts of which are broken away.

Fig. 2 is a detail perspective of certain elements of the safety appliance.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the right hand end of the machine of F ig. 1; the parts being broken away.

Fig. 4 is a perspective of one of the safety levers of the machine.

Fig. 5 is a plan of the machine, parts of which are broken away.

Fig. 6 is a plan of one of the latches for retaining a cover in uplifted position.

The machine as shown comprises an exterior stationary cylindrical drum or shell 2 arranged on a horizontal axis and supported in a suitable framework, parts of which are shown'at 3. This shell may be provided with one or more c'over sections 2 movable in the direction of the a-rrow in Fig. 1 to permitaccessinto the interior of the shell in which there is arranged one or more washing cylinders k4. The cylinders or cylinder sections are provided withone or more cover members 42l ordinarily hinged as at 4b to one side of the opening 5 provided therefor so' that the covers may be lifted to permit access into the interior of the cylinder 4 for loading and unloading the same.

The cylinder 4 is rotated ordinarily in alternating motions and this isaccomplished by the driving of the shaft 6 upon which thevcylinder is mounted, rst in one direction'and then in the opposite. This rotary movement is secured in the present case by a large gear 7 fastened on one exposed end of the shaft andwhich gear meshes with an intermediate gear 8 of a transmission Y train including a pinion 9 driving the gear 8.

The pinion shaft and its train of vgear is adapted to' be dri-ven by any suitable form of mechanism which, in the present case, includes a fixed pulley wheel 10, Fig. 5, on the sides of which arevarranged loose pulleys 11 and 12.y These pulleys are driven by straight and twisted belts 13 and 14 which are shiftable to and fromthe tight pulley as by shifting device 15, all o-f which forms part of well known mechanism notherein claimed.

The starting and stopping operation of the gear train is controlled by a lever 16, and this is under the cont-rol of the operative who can throw the lever 16 to a starting and to a` stopping position by means of an extended handle or rod-17 reaching over to the front of themachine and being pivotal-ly connected at 18 to the control lever 16.

It frequently `happens that when the machine is stopped by throwing over the lever 16, the covers 4*L of the cylinders are located out of register with the opening in the shell beneath the cover 2a, and means are `usually v handle 21 and which pinion is slidable along a studv or trunnion 22gpr'ojecting from one Cil end of the machine frame. By means of the crank 21 the pinion 20 can be rotated after it has been shifted into mesh with the gear 7 so as to work the gear around and bring the cylinder covers below the shell openings. y

Novices and careless operatives may attempt to start the operation of the machine before the pinion 20 has been shifted out of mesh with the driven gear 7 of the cylinder, and this results in accidents to the machine and to the operative because of the high rate at which the small pinion will be driven by the large gearV when it is turned by the power train.

To avoid such accidents, my invention includes means controlling the starting of the driven train' so long as the pinion 2O may be in mesh with the gear 7. A form of Vmeans is shown as including a safety lever 25 mounted intermedi'ately on a pivot 26 provided on the frame of the machine.

rl`he safety lever 25 has an offset front end to pass under the hub 20 of the pinion 2O when the latter is in gear meshing position and at which time the lever 25 will be ield down at its outer end while its opposite end is thrust upwardly and carries stop rod 27 upwardly through a guide 28 provided on theV frame and in which the stop rod 27 is slidable. In its upper posi-- tion, as shown in Fig. 3, the stop rod stands in front of a lock pin 29 which is provided on one side of the starting handle 17; this being pushed back to throw the'starting lever 16 to stopping position. lt will be seen that when the safety lever 25 is pushed down below the hub 20', it will therefore thrust the stop rod 27 upwardly in front of the lock pin 29 of the handle 27 when this in the rearward position, see Fig. 3. llefore the operator can start the machine he will therefore have to disconnect the pinion 20 from the gear 7 by sliding the pinion outwardly along its trunnion 22 during which time the hub 2G of the pinion will he .shifted from position above the safety lever 25 and this, as soon as it is thereby released, will swing downwardly at its rear end carrying with it the stop rod 27, the upper end of which will recede from effective position in front of the lock pin 29. rlherefore the operator can then, and then only, pull the starting handle 17 forwardly to draw into yoperation the drivingtrain connected to the gear 7. Y

The starting lever 16 with its handle 17 is also controlled by the stop pin 29 to prevent the operator from starting the machine until such of the cylinder covers la as may be opened have been thrown into the closed position in its opening 5 of its cylinder 4. 'n

To that end the lock pin 29 is shown in Fig. as extending through the starting dog yokes 39.

handle 17 and is adapted to be engaged by a stop rod 3G mounted in the guide 28. lhe lower end of the stop rod 30 is connected to an arm 31 which is secured upon the contiguous end of a rock shaft 32 journaled in suitable bearings 33, and which rod extends longitudinally of the machine in a position above the top of the casing or shell2.

Mounted upon the bearings 33of the rock shaft 32 is a pair of latches each of which has a hook end 3e and each of which is formed of a yoke shape in end view as shown in F ig. 3. rllhe yoke arms are laterally extended to form ears 35 straddling the bearings 33 and receiving a pivot pin 36, of which there is one in each bearing for each latch 34. 'lhere are as many latches arranged along the machine as there are cyl inder covers en, and as each cover is lifted through the shell, one edge of the cover is adapted to engage the hook 3e and Vthis is swung outwardly until the edge of the cover passes behind the shoulder of the hook and the cover is retained in elevated position as shownr to the left in Fig. 5. Each latch is thrown to 'the effective position as by means of a contractile spring 37, one end of which is attached to a latch and the opposite end is fastened to its bearing or bracket 33. rlhus the latches hold the covers in uplifted position.

its the covers are lifted, they respectively engage means for rocking the rock shaft 32 so as to tilt the lever 31 which will thus -raise the stop rod 30 into a position in front of the contiguous portion of thelock pin 29, while the starting handle 17 is pushed yrearwardly; it being understood that the driving mechanism is in idle position while the covers are elevated.

Means for thus rocking the rock shaft and which means are controlled by the cove-rs il consist, in the present case, of dogs 33 in the form of an l shaped member, F ig. l, provided at the front end of a yoke 39 from which the dog 33 extends laterally at the intermediate portion of the yoke. The yoke arms are mounted upon the pivot pin 36 upon which the latches 34 are mounted, it being understood that theY yokes 39 of the dogs 33 overlap the latch yokes as clearly shown in F ig. 3. As a cover la is thrown 'to the open position, its edge will engage the contiguous end of the dog 33 located thereat and the dog will be swung to the outer' position. Each of the dog yokes v39 is provided with a trip arm e() and this trip arm is disposed so as to engage a downwardly extending abutment arm 411, of which there is one secured to the rock shaft 32 for each of the rlhus, as the dog yoke is swung on its pivot the trip arm 40 swings rearwardly against the contiguous abutment arm 41 and the shaft 32 is rocked thus lifting the rod arm 31 from dotted position, Fig. 3, to full line position carrying the stop rod 3() into effective position in front of the loclr pin 29, thereby preventing the starting handle 17 from being pulled inwardly until the covers da have been lowered into the cylinder thereby releasing the tripping dogs 38 to bring the trip arms 40 to neutral position and release the abutment arms 41 and thereby the rod arm 81.

F rom the above it will be seen that I have provided a comparatively simple means providing for the locking of the starting mechanism against the same being thrown into operation while the hand operated cylinder means is in effective position and also while any of the covers of the cylinders are in open position.

It is to be understood that while the present invention has been shown in combination with a laundry washing machine, it may be readily incorporated with various other types of machines in which it is desirab-le to provide safety appliances to control starting and stopping operation of the given machine.

vVarious changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

I'What is claimed is:

1. In a power driven washing machine, a washing cylinder provided with a coverl member adapted to be lifted and having power means for driving the cylinder including belts and tight and loose pulleys, and means for shifting the belts to stop and start the cylinder, means for preventing the starting of the power means while the cover member of the cylinder is in lifted position, said means comprising mechanism for holding the cover open and adapted to hold the belts from shifting while the cover is open.

2. In a power driven washing machine having a cylinder with a cover member adapted to be lifted for access to the cylinder, power means for driving the cylinder and including shifting belts and tight and loose pulleys and a belt shifter, and a safety device for preventing the starting of the power while the cover member is open, comprising a dog yoke pivotally mounted to be engaged by the cover member, a rock power driven means while the said manuall means is in effective position and while the cover means of the cylinder is in an uplifted position.

Ll. In a power driven laundry washing machine having a cylinder provided with movable cover means, a power driven train connected to the cylinder and including a starting and stopping instrumentality, manual means for rotating the cylinder tov bring c the cover means to a predetermined'position when the power is cut off, and safety mechu anism for preventing the starting of the power driven means while the said-'manual means 1s 1n effective position and while the cover means of the cylinder 1s in an uplifted position, the said safety mechanism havingparts respectively controlled by the manual means and by the cover means.

5. In a power driven laundry washing machine having a cylinder provided with movable cover means, a power driven train connected to the cylinder and including astarting and stopping instrumentality, manual means for rotating' the cylinder to bring the cover means to a predetermined position when the power is cut olf, and safety mechanism for preventing the starting of thc power driven means while the said manual means is in eiective position and while the cover means` of the cylinder is in an uplifted position, the said safety mechanism having parts respectively controlled by the manual means and by the cover means so that the starting mechanism is controlled by either the manual means or the cover means.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

SAMUEL M. COZAD. 

